[UPDATE 1/10/14: Donlan and Speroff finished 6th out of 12 in the afternoon short program on 1/9/14. They will skate again on Saturday in the long program. There is still hope for the Olympic team. It is not determined by score. It's hand-picked by the US Figure Skating committee.]
This week, the U.S. Figure Skating Championships begin in Boston. It’s the nation’s most prestigious annual figure skating event and its winners are eligible for the U.S. Olympic team. The last time Boston hosted, in 2001, the event set a new record for attendance.
The competitors share the rink, almost colliding as they skate in their own orbits. They are the top skaters in the country, and they’re out on the ice, practicing axels, Salchows, loops and lutzes.
Bobby Martin, a Belmont native who coaches skating in Boston, is watching a young figure skating pair warm up. He has high hopes for them.
“I think this year is their coming out party, to be honest with you," he said. "Five years in, they’ve done extremely well certain times and struggled with other things. But they seem ready now. They’ve matured. It’s almost like they’re hitting the big leagues right at the right time.”
Gretchen Donlan and Andrew Speroff will compete in their third Nationals and hope it will be their best.
“Our best skate in Nationals was not last Nationals but the one before. We skated really well, we ended up on the podium in fourth place. Had a little bit of a rough season all last year. But this year has been really good, we’ve gotten two golds from Austria and Slovakia.”
Now they’re perfecting graceful, powerful routines they hope will bring them a national championship title. Donlan said they start training hard four weeks before a competition.
"I’ve always said, though, my favorite saying is who does the best is who is sane and healthy when it comes time to skate,” Speroff said.
To stay sane and healthy, skaters practice meditation, and meet with sports psychologists at the Olympic training center in Colorado.
"You can’t not think about it when it gets closer and closer. When it comes time to go it’s all mental," Speroff, 25, said.
"You can think about it too much, you can go a little crazy. But you can always get better,” said Donlan, 20.
Andrew is from Ohio and Colorado. Gretchen is from Hingham and studying biology at Boston University, Her family has welcomed Speroff into their home to live. Their friendship is a never-ending source of intrigue for their fans.
"I think there’s a lot of different levels to our relationship," Speroff said. "There’s definitely that brother sister, then there’s that coworker, then there’s that best friend sort of thing."
Their relationship is a source of pride for Coach Bobby Martin, who said he’s hopeful for the pair, and for the two others he coaches here.
“The three teams have now been together for 18 years, collectively. That’s as long as I’ve been married. That’s exceptional. That’s a long length of time.”
Martin said the toughest part of coaching pairs is keeping them together. As skaters grow up, they weigh decisions such as college, work, outside relationships, the desire to move…
“I don’t shy away from uncomfortable conversations. I mean, I sit them all down in a room and we talk about it. If there’s an elephant in the room about something, I mean, here it is, here’s how it’s going to work.”
Martin will be in the stands on Thursday and Saturday, when Speroff and Donlan skate. They hope their performance will bring them from Boston to the Winter Olympics Sochi, Russia next month.
Click here for ticket information to competitive events at TD Garden.
